Constitutional Justice Manahan M. P. Sitompul speaking in the Constitutionalism Training for the Management and Members of Labor Unions, Wednesday (4/9/2019) in Sentul, Bogor. Photo by Humas MK/Hidayat.
SENTUL, Public Relations of the Constitutional Court—Constitutional Justice Manahan M. P. Sitompul spoke in the Constitutionalism Training for the Management and Members of Labor Unions on Wednesday (4/9/2019) in Sentul, Bogor on "Understanding the Important Aspects in the Procedural Law for the Judicial Review of Laws against the 1945 Constitution."
Justice Manahan talked about four authorities of the Constitutional Court of the Republic of Indonesia (MKRI). The first one is examining laws against the 1945 Constitution. Around 200 judicial review petitions are lodged to the Constitutional Court every year.
"If someone [requests] the judicial review, it is called a petition, not a lawsuit. Why [so]? Because in the judicial review there are no defendants, there are no opposing parties. In the judicial review in the Constitutional Court there are no opposing parties because what is at issue is a legal norm," he said.
Another authority of the Constitutional Court is deciding on authority dispute among state institutions whose authorities are granted by the 1945 Constitution. "This type of petition is rarely handled by the Court. Few and far between," said Justice Manahan. The next authority is deciding on the dissolution of political parties. "However, the petition for the dissolution of non-political community organizations is not lodged to the Constitutional Court but to the ministry," he explained.
The Court is also authorized to decide on disputes over presidential and legislative election results. The Court is obligated to decide on the House’s opinion on an alleged violation of law committed by the president and/or vice president.
Meaning of the Constitution
Former Chief Constitutional Justice Hamdan Zoelva talked about the meaning of the Constitution. He explained that the 1945 Constitution is the authoritative text of the constitution. In addition, the 1945 Constitution is a state practice commonly called a convention. Meanwhile, the constitution is far broader in meaning; it concerns the structure of the state to the lowest level, even including government regulations relating to the structure and institutions of the country.
"The constitution is the crystallization of the will of the people, which is adopted in a written text or practiced continuously. The constitution of every country does not have to be the same. We should not copy the constitutions of other countries for our national life," Hamdan said on "The Development of Indonesian Constitutional Dynamics and Constitutionalism."
Hamdan said the constitution is always domestic. "If you want to study the Indonesian Constitution, don\'t go far, just study [it] in Indonesia because we understand the Indonesian Constitution best," he said.
Hamdan continued, the Constitution is a reflection of the culture of the nation concerned, a reflection of the way of life of the nation concerned. "However, that does not mean we are completely averse to observing the constitutions of other countries. [We only do so for] comparison. The [heart] and soul of the constitution must be in accordance with the soul and the cultural roots and the deepest will of the people," explained Hamdan.
Broadly speaking, Hamdan added, the Constitution is a charter of government, the highest agreement on the purpose of state and how the country is run. Because the Constitution is the highest law, the process of amending the Constitution is more complicated, abstract, and has a long-term effect.
Implementation of Pancasila
Dean of the Faculty of Philosophy of Gadjah Mada University (UGM) Arqom Kuswanjono presented "The Re-actualization of the Implementation of Pancasila." Arqom explained that Pancasila as the nation\'s philosophy of life aims to make Indonesia a wise nation. "Pancasila creates a whole human being: religious, humanist, nationalist, democratic, and just," said Arqom.
In addition, said Arqom, Pancasila is a way of life. In a sense, Pancasila is a mind set in living life. Pancasila is also a critical way of thinking, meaning that Pancasila is a perspective in seeing and solving various problems. Arqom added that Pancasila is the basis and source of formal legal basic norms that determine the form of the state, the system of government, legislation, regulations on social politics, and so on.
State Powers
Tarumanagara University’s constitutional law lecturer Ahmad Redi presented "State Administration System According to the 1945 Constitution of the Republic of Indonesia." Redi explained Montesquieu’s theory of separation of powers The Spirit of the Laws (1748) that if the legislative and executive powers are held by one person or by a body, there will be no freedom. Citizens would be worried that if a king or the senate makes laws, there will be tyranny.
"If the judicial power is not separated from the legislative and executive powers, judges will act arbitrarily. If the judicial power is combined with the executive power, judges can become oppressors," Redi said.
Redi also explained the powers in Indonesia. There is the horizontal relationship among the executive, legislative, and judiciary, which is that among MPR (People’s Consultative Assembly), DPR (House of Representatives), DPD (Regional Representatives Council), President, MA (Supreme Court), MK (Constitutional Court), BPK (Audit Board). Horizontal relationship among holders of state powers can give birth to various government systems—parliamentary and presidential.
Meanwhile, vertical relationship between superiors and subordinates exist between the central government and regional governments. It involves division of labor between the center and the regions, for example, the President is in charge of ministers, governors, and regents.
Constitutional Rights
Constitutional law expert A. Irmanputra Sidin presented "The Guarantee of Constitutional Rights of Citizens in the 1945 Constitution of the Republic of Indonesia." He talked about the Conception on the Constitutional Rights and Citizens\' Rights According to the 1945 Constitution, for example regarding the term constitutional rights, which are rights regulated in the 1945 Constitution as mentioned in the Elucidation to Article 51 of Law 24 of 2003 concerning the Constitutional Court. The 1945 Constitution also regulates rights, including human rights and citizens\' rights, in Chapter X, Article 27.
According to Irman, the constitutional rights guaranteed by the state are not only explicitly stated in the 1945 Constitution, but also implicitly confirmed by the Constitutional Court\'s decisions, for example, the affirmation of citizens\' constitutional right to vote and be elected through Constitutional Court Decision No. 011- 017/PUU-I/2003.
In the question and answer session, Irman responded to a question about corporations in Indonesia. "The boundary between corporations and the state is getting thinner and thinner. The real battle in this country is not a political battle, but a corporate battle," he explained.
"Moreover, earth, water and natural resources contained therein and the branches of production which are important for the state and control the livelihoods of many are controlled by the state. Imagine the value of natural resources and production branches that are important to the country, millions of trillions. Our state budget is only 2,000 trillion. [It is] small compared to the natural resources contested by many people. Therefore, this country is the main target for corporations," Irman added. (Nano Tresna Arfana/LA)
Translated by: Yuniar Widiastuti
Friday, September 06, 2019 | 17:05 WIB 173